Kanchan
Kanchan 「嵌張」 is a wait pattern that completes with the middle number of a sequence.
| Kanji | 嵌張 |
|---|---|
| English | Closed wait, Middle wait |
| Fu | 2 fu |
| Tile types waiting | 1 sided wait |
| Tiles available | 4 tiles |
| Pattern example |
  |
| Tenhou.net example | Kanchan |
Pattern
Fu
Kanchan is awarded 2 fu upon winning. A closed hand winning by ron automatically becomes mangan, if it scores 4 han.
Strategy
Kanchan is considered to be a "bad wait", because it can only wait for a maximum of 4 tiles. Thus, they are worse for hand development. Kanchans are considered better than penchan. Like the other bad waits, kanchan can be used to "suji trap" opponents.
Kanchan vs Penchan
Despite the fact that both kanchan and penchan wait on the same number of tiles, kanchans are stronger, because they are easier to upgrade.
- A
kanchan can be upgraded by drawing 
, turning it into a (two-sided) ryanmen.
- A
penchan cannot be upgraded to ryanmen on its own. It must first draw a , turning it into a kanchan, then draw the to get a ryanmen.
As a kanchan requires 1 tile to be upgraded to a ryanmen, but a penchan requires 2 tiles, the kanchan is superior to keep before tenpai. However, when you reach tenpai, kanchan and penchan are effectively identical.